As the sole radiation oncologist and dosimetrist at her specialty veterinary hospital, Carolynne Kruckman-Gatesy, DVM, MS, DACVR-RO, said finding time to create treatment plans was a constant struggle.
She’d squeeze in planning during the few minutes in between appointments and would regularly spend hours working through cases, even logging on during her days off to tackle complex cases.
The grueling pace took a toll, but as one of only three veterinary hospitals in the Chicago area offering radiation therapy services, reducing caseload would mean longer delays for patients needing treatment.
Instead, Veterinary Specialty Center, located in Bannockburn, just north of Chicago, engaged Varian’s Veterinary Dosimetry Services, to provide treatment planning services by a team of certified medical dosimetrists who specialize in veterinary cases.
For Dr. Kruckman-Gatesy and her patients, the impact was immediate.
“It dramatically improved my quality of life, and I was able to accommodate more in-hospital referral consults because I had more time during the day,” she shared.
Varian’s dedicated veterinary dosimetry team provides fully remote treatment planning services, from CT simulation to patient treatment, to clinics in the United States and Canada. The flexible service, which can be customized to meet a clinician’s specific needs, helps veterinary hospitals create quality plans, while reducing variation.
The service is integrated into a hospital’s system, creating a streamlined workflow. Based on the prescription from the veterinary radiation oncologist, the veterinary-trained dosimetrist contours the organs at risk (OARs), completes the plan, and sends it to the veterinary radiation oncologist for review and approval. Varian’s plan turnaround times are 24-to-72 hours from the initial request by the veterinary radiation oncologist.
For Katherine S. Hansen, DVM, DACVR-RO, that turnaround time means having more certainty around when optimized plans would be available.
“Now I know I will have a plan that meets metrics on a specific timeline, and if the metrics are not achievable, I can communicate alternatives to the Varian dosimetry team and move on with my clinical day knowing the work would move forward,” Dr. Hansen said.
Dr. Hansen said the value of outsourcing dosimetry became abundantly clear when she transitioned from an academic role training veterinary residents to VCA Bay Area Veterinary and Specialty Hospital in the San Francisco Bay area. While treatment planning was among her favorite aspects of the job while teaching, it quickly became unmanageable in the hospital, adding, “I would have to be working around the clock to keep up with the caseload.”
Today, Dr. Hansen treats patients on a Varian Halcyon machine and uses the Varian veterinary dosimetry team for about 75% of her treatment planning. Varian’s remote service made it possible for her to launch a new service using a slightly different planning process for Halcyon. “I was able to take a few cases myself at first to learn about planning for Halcyon and then filter cases for the Varian Veterinary Dosimetry Services team and look at how they were planning and learn,” she said.
Lauren Quarterman, DVM, DACVR-RO, used Varian’s veterinary dosimetry services for two years before TrueCare of Pets in Los Angeles, California, hired her to help build a radiation oncology practice in 2022. Adding Varian’s services for treatment planning on the hospital’s Halcyon system, Dr. Quarterman said, just made sense.
“I wouldn’t be able to see the caseload I manage if I had to create my own plans without help,” Dr. Quarterman said.
“I wouldn’t be able to see the caseload I manage if I had to create my own plans without help … my patients are ultimately getting better treatment because Varian’s certified medical dosimetrists have more time to dedicate to producing better quality plans.”
- Lauren Quarterman, DVM, DACVR-RO, TrueCare of Pets in Los Angeles, California
Dr. Quarterman said she’s been impressed with the planning services Varian provides, adding: “my patients are ultimately getting better treatment because Varian’s certified medical dosimetrists have more time to dedicate to producing better quality plans.”
While Dr. Kruckman-Gatesy occasionally does some clinical set-ups with hand calculations, she mainly relies on plans created by the Varian team. The opportunity to collaborate with a broader team has also been invaluable for complex cases, she said, pointing to a recent patient with titanium spinal implants in the radiotherapy field. “I was very impressed and happy with how everyone worked together,” she added.
Dr. Hansen said she now implements treatment angles and optimizer settings she learned from the Varian veterinary dosimetry team, adding, “I’m also very comfortable approaching them about something I had not seen done before to learn from their experience.”
Working with the Varian team has also enabled Dr. Kruckman-Gatesy to draw from broader treatment planning experience to hone different approaches, adding that she’s moved away from 3DCRT almost entirely and “uses VMAT because the dose coverage is almost always superior.”
Although she continues to have an extensive waitlist, Dr. Kruckman-Gatesy said Varian’s services have enabled her to treat urgent cases more quickly, and provide better, and more sustainable, overall service to her clients.
“I’m better able to focus my attention on other parts of my job, such as maintaining patient records, doing exams, and communicating with clients,” she said, adding, “the improvement in my quality of life has been invaluable. I would not have been able to continue at the pace I was setting for myself and ultimately would have needed to cut back on cases or risk severe burn-out.”
Dr. Hansen agreed that the value of Varian’s Veterinary Dosimetry Services has been clear: “Because I'm not rushing back and forth from appointments or simulations to look at optimizers or change penalties, I can focus fully on my on-site patients.”
Learn more:
For more information Varian’s Veterinary Dosimetry Services, visit Consulting Services for Veterinary Oncology.
Watch a recent Webinar to learn more about Varian’s Veterinary Dosimetry Services.
The statements by Varian's customers described here are based on results achieved in the customer's unique clinical setting. Because there is no "typical" clinical setting and many variables exist, there is no guarantee that other customers will achieve the same results.
